The Twelve Questions of Christmas
by Yu-Gi-OhGirlKasha516
Summary: The yami's got in trouble with their hikari's and now they have to help prepare the gangs Christmas party. Sucks for whoever's in charge of getting it ready, right? Well, that person is me. Now I have to deal with financial problems, all-nighters, in-fighting, sabotage, and general destruction while trying to teach the yami's about Christmas. I'm going to need way more chocolate.
1. Sparkly Tree

Hello, people of fan fiction. Did you miss me? Well, first I would like to apologies for being gone so long. Unfortunately life outside of my writing has gotten out of hand as I have been busy moving to another country. However, I have pulled myself out of my stress induced writing slump to bring to you a Christmas story! Now, I know what you're thinking, it isn't Christmas yet so why am I uploading this so early? Well, this will be a multi-chapter story, like a drabble collection, and I will upload a new chapter every day until the day before Christmas! Because I know you all have better things to do on Christmas than listen to me.

I would also like to say that I probably won't be uploading any new stories or updating my other story until after the move is finished. But I have been visited by plenty of plot bunnies and when I return, which I will, you shall be bombarded with chapters of new and old stories alike! Until the next chapter, which I will upload tomorrow.

Warnings: Mild swearing from Bakura.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas Chapter 1: Sparkly Tree

* * *

I stared in disbelief at the monumental catastrophe that lay spread out before me. When I had left, the ballroom that I had been getting ready for the Christmas party had been pristine; white walls lined with huge arched windows that let in plenty of light, a perfectly shined marble floor, the large wooden stage where the band would perform had been built and even the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the room only needed to be decorated. Now the room was a mess.

I felt the vain over my left temple throb, took a deep breath and yelled, "BAKURA! MARIK! YAMI! GET YOUR BUTS OVER HERE, NOW!"

The giant pile of tinsel to my left shifted and I glared at it. The pile shifted some more and a spiky head of hair emerged. Yami wiggled a bit and finally fell out of the pile and landed on his head, completely tied up with tinsel. I couldn't help but smile a little as he cursed.

Replacing my smile with an annoyed frown I walked over to him and said bluntly, "Where are the other two?"

Yami gestured to the pile with his head, which was all he could move, and said, "They're still in there."

I nodded and reached into the pile. The first one I found was Marik, who I pulled out by the back of his belt, and then Bakura who I dragged out by his hair. Once all three of them were out I propped them up against the wall and proceeded to rant at them. Listing off all the things they broke; the stage, the decorations that they smashed, the decorations that they melted, the walls and ceiling which had fire and smoke damage, all the windows they smashed, and the stage that had been reduced to firewood.

Once I was finished I glared at the yami's and said, "Now, you are all going to fix _everything_ that you broke, damaged or destroyed, you are going to decorate the Christmas tree, and none of you are leaving until you're finished."

Bakura looked at me and growled, "Why the hell do we have to decorate a bloody tree anyway?"

"Because it's a Christmas tradition and I said so." I snapped.

"That isn't an answer," he said, smirking, and I got the feeling he got that comeback from Ryou.

"Do you really want to sit there, tied up, while I lecture you on the historical importance of decorating a pine tree with certain specific types of ornaments?"

Bakura's face went blank for a second then he scowled.

I chuckled and untied the yami's, then sent them to work cleaning up and as they walked off I heard Bakura mutter, "I will never understand these bloody modern traditions."


	2. Fat Man in a Chimney

Hello, once again, people of the fan fic world. As I promised it's time for chapter two! Now, I would like to point out to everyone that when I said I would upload every day until the day before Christmas that means by _my_ time zone, so it might be different for where you are. If that's the case, sorry but I can't change it now. Also, to the person who left the anonymous review from the first chapter. I know I haven't explained how the Yamis got into this, but I don't think I'll be able to add a prologue now. But don't worry, I'll add one after Christmas when I re-write some of the chapters. I'm already planning a flash-back into how the yamis destroyed the ballroom :)

Also, according to a friend of mine, the plural for yami should be yamis. But until now I've always seen it yami's. So now I'm not sure which to use. If you could help me out that would be grate!

Disclaimer: I do not own the anime/manga Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters. I do not gain any profit from writing this.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Chapter two:

Fat Man in a Chimney

* * *

The day after the 'Great Tree Catastrophe' I looked around the newly repaired ballroom and frowned at all the things the Yamis could break or destroy or set on fire. This was going to be a long week.

I sighed to myself and pulled open the large cardboard box that I had gone out to buy the previous day. Of course I had cut open the box outside where Bakura and Marik couldn't get to the knife.

I called Yami over and got him to grab one end of the cardboard cut-out and walk across the room as I unfolded it. In a matter of moments the cut-out was laying across the floor, and at nearly thirty feet long it wasn't small. The giant decoration drew the attention of Marik and Bakura who had disappeared to somewhere and I didn't want to know why.

Bakura frowned down at the cut-out and asked, "Is that a fat man in a chimney?"

"Yep," I said.

And it was, technically. The cut-out had a fireplace at the bottom and showed the inside of the chimney all the way to the roof. And about half way up was Santa with his bag of toys and presents climbing down into the 'house'.

"Bakura, go get the ladder," I said, "Yami, go get the glue gun. And Marik, go do… something."

"I will not do anything that you say." Marik said, dropping to sit cross-legged on the floor.

"'K," I said, and started folding up the cut-out to move to the other side of the room. I smiled as I heard Marik swearing under his breath.

After a few minutes I was up on the ladder gluing the cut-out against the wall while Yami held the ladder and Bakura went to bug Marik about something. It must have taken me over an hour to set the whole thing up and afterwards I just lay on the floor looking up at the fake chimney, wondering how long until the Yamis broke it or burned it down.

After about 10 minutes Bakura walked over and said, "Hey, who the bloody hell is Santa anyway?"

"Gather round people," I called out, still lying on the floor, "and I will tell you a tale of Christmas."

Bakura huffed and rolled his eyes but sat down and waited for the other two to join us. After Yami dragged Marik over and they were all sitting, I sat up and started. "So, I'm sure you've all seen pictures of the 'fat man', as Bakura called him, around in shops and stuff?" I got some nods. "Well, the 'fat man' is Santa Claus, whose name comes from Saint Nicholas. But Santa Claus is actually a publicity stunt that was pulled by Coca-Cola in 1931 for their Christmas advertising and over 30 years the image of the current Santa Claus was introduced and spread across the globe. In fact a lot of the modern myths about Santa come from old Coca-Cola ads."

I looked around to find Marik asleep, Bakura pretending to be asleep and Yami just looked confused, like he didn't know what Coca-Cola was. I sighed and pulled out the whistle I kept around my neck. Yami saw it just in time to cover his ears as I blew into it, causing Marik and Bakura to bang into each other and start trying to pummel each other in their panic. I fell back on the floor laughing and thought, _well, maybe some good things will come out of this after all._

* * *

I would like to thank lilyflower666 and the anonymous reviewer for reviewing. Thx, you guys keep me writing. :)


	3. The Anti-Burgler, A History of Christmas

Hey, peoples! Did you miss me? Well, I am back, and I come bearing the gift of chapter three. Ok, so I would like to thank my anonymous reviewer for their continued support. I always did have problems with grammar.

Warnings: Strong swearing from multiple characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters. I make no profit from this story.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Chapter Three:

The Anti-Burglar, A History of Christmas

* * *

I looked down at the offending paper and growled. This time, Marik and Bakura were _so_ going to get it. I stalked across the street and entered the apartment building that Ryou and his yami lived in. I climbed the stairs two at a time, running on pure, rage-induced adrenalin. Once I reached their floor I barged down the hallway, startling an old lady holding a bag of groceries. Instead of knocking, I practically kicked in the apartment's front door and stormed up the hallway.

From behind me, in the kitchen, Ryou called, "Marik, get the bloody hell out of my apartment!"

I knew that Ryou rarely used his manners around the two insane Yami's, and wasn't surprised at his use of language, but was too angry to bother replying.

I glared at the door to Bakura's room, which I knew would be locked, and pulled out the spare key I had secretly had made. The lock clicked open and I slammed the door against the inside wall of the thief's inner sanctum. The silver glint of the dagger was all I saw as it flew towards me before I grabbed it in midair. The knife hissed and sparked as it glowed molten and started to turn to goo in my hand. Magical fire flickered around my fingers.

Bakura sat on the end of his bed, watching in horror as one of his daggers melted in front of him. When he got over his shock/horror Bakura stood up, growled, and demanded, "What the fuck are you doing in my room?"

"Tell me where the stuff is Bakura Touzouku, or I will duct tape you to a chair and make you watch every single episode of Funny Bunny ever released while locked in a dungeon with Pegasus!"

He seemed taken back for a minute before a smirk spread on his face and he almost doubled over laughing. I threw a fireball at him and set his hair on fire.

Bakura cursed and ran past me to the bathroom, shoving his burning head under the shower. While he was gone I ran into his room and pulled open his wardrobe. And there they were, stacked from the floor up to nearly as tall as I was, all the evidence in one place.

I heard soft footsteps behind me and turned to come face-to-face with Ryou, who looked absolutely terrified.

"U-um…" he stuttered, "w-what are you… I mean, what are those…"

"Bakura and Marik," I started, "blew the entire budget for the Christmas party on junk from infomercials."

Ryou walked over and took a closer look at the stack of boxes, his eyes narrowing at the dozens of familiar brands. There had to be over a thousand dollars worth of junk in there.

Bakura stalked back into the room and I chuckled at him, "You look like a burnt out, drowned cat," I said.

He growled, but then smirked. "It doesn't matter, without any money there won't be a Christmas party this year."

I grumbled some curse words under my breath and placed my hand against one of the boxes. Suddenly, a plot hole opened up beneath the pile and they all tumbled to somewhere far, far away.

I turned and walked out the door before stopping in the hallway. I threw a glare over my shoulder and said, "You shall pay dearly for this, Bakura. You shall suffer endlessly!"

I stormed out of the apartment before he could try to insult me and headed for my next stop: Marik.

~Break line~

The next morning I smirked as I waited for the Yami's to show up. If they thought they could stop me by messing around with the budget a little then they were so wrong. I had called all of them back to the ballroom that morning and this time I wouldn't go easy on them.

The large doors opened and Bakura and Marik walked in. Yami followed them from a few steps behind. I jumped down from my spot in the rafters and pinned Bakura, quickly tying his hands with the most powerful substance known to man: duct tape. As I looked to my left I smiled at the sight of Marik, similarly bound, being dragged towards the ballroom by Yami.

I proceeded to take Bakura into the ballroom and tie him to a chair with duct tape. I also removed every knife I could find, for a grand total of 24, and gagged him to be safe. I then did the same with Marik.

"Ok, let me tell you a couple of things," I said to my captives. "First, Yami had no part in what you did therefore he is exempt from your punishment. Second, I shall now punish you by making you listen to the story of the origin of Christmas." I could already see them starting to panic. "Well," I started, "it all started around two thousand years ago, with a man later known as Saint Nicholas. Now, this man was very kind, and greatly enjoyed helping people. Every night Saint Nicholas would travel into the poorest parts of the city and throw small bags of coins through the windows. This is why we give at Christmas."

Bakura made some muffled noises so I took the gag off to let him speak.

"That's it?" he said.

"No," I answered, as I gagged him again. "Thing number three, all of the stuff you bought hadn't been opened so I sent it all back for 'a full refund of the purchase price' and now we have all our money back."

Bakura turned even more albino than he was before.

"That's right," I said, "the Christmas party is still on!"

I could tell, by the look on his face, that in his mind Bakura was screaming: NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


	4. Present Problems

Hey there, I'm back and I brought chapter four! That's right, just like I said I would. This chapter is longer than any of the others, way to long to be a drabble, and I swear I wrote the entire second half of this story in one hour. So, sorry if it seems a little rushed towards the end. But I got it to you on time, sort of, close enough.

I would like to thank all of my wonderful readers for giving me the shove I needed to get this chapter out on time. And I will, most likely, see you tomorrow with chapter five!

Warnings: Mild swearing, mild violence. I apologise if anyone finds this in any way insensitive. I have nothing but sympathy for anyone affected by any of the attacks and shootings that have happened in the passed years.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, any of its characters, or any malls.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Chapter four:

Present Problems

* * *

I looked down at my watch in disbelief. The time was 2.34pm, exactly 2 hours and 3 minutes since we had entered the mall, and we hadn't been kicked out yet.

Earlier today I had dragged Yami, Marik and Bakura to the mall with me because I needed to do my Christmas shopping and I wasn't comfortable leaving the yamis on their own again. To be honest, I considered them lasting so long without getting us kicked out to be a Christmas miracle.

I folded the dress I had been looking at over my arm and headed for the sales desk. _Tea is going to love this, _I thought.

Yami walked behind me while Bakura and Marik hung back a little, grumbling about what a 'goody-goody' Yami was. Actually, Yami had been a big help today, keeping the others in check and helping me choose presents for everyone.

As we passed a rack of T-shirts Yami called me back and held up a black T-shirt with writing on it and an arrow at the bottom. It read; 'How to keep an idiot occupied, see back' I looked up and Yami turned the T-shirt around. 'How to keep an idiot occupied, see front'.

I couldn't help laughing. "That is awesome." I said.

"You want it?" Yami asked.

I blinked at him. "Yeah, you wanna buy it for me?"

Yami smiled and laid the shirt over his arm.

"You…" I said, pointing at him, "are awesome."

As we started heading for the sales desk again I heard Bakura spit an insult at Yami. I turned, but Yami just rolled his eyes and I chuckled. I saw Bakura glare at what he knew was an unspoken insult towards him and smirked at him before looking away. I heard Marik laughing at him and couldn't keep the smile off my face despite the weird looks I got from other shoppers and the sales lady.

Once we had paid we left the clothing shop and headed towards one of our last stops, the mall's game shop, so that Yami could get something for Yugi.

With Marik and Bakura so far behind I took the opportunity to whisper to Yami, "Hey, I'm gonna go get a drink, think you can handle the nut-jobs without me for five minutes?"

Yami frowned and glanced nervously back at the others, but then nodded to me. "…Be back in three," he added.

"Don't worry," I said, "I'll keep Yugi off your back if they do something crazy."

"Alright," he conceded, "but if the media covers this as a possible terrorist attack I doubt that even the gods of Egypt will be able to save me."

"Pessimist."

I waved goodbye and headed to the ice cream and milkshake kiosk and was very glad to see that they didn't have a queue. Luckily for me the milkshake kiosk was right across from the game shop so I could keep an eye on the yamis… at least, until I got distracted.

* * *

The first thing that caught Yami's eye when they entered the shop were the rows of racks and glass cases filled with Duel Monsters cards. There was a whole corner of the shop, right next to the window, filled with them. And all along the wall were pictures of Duel Monsters, and Yugi posing with his Duel Disk.

He sighed. Yugi had access to all the latest cards and Duel Disk upgrades. He was the King of Games. Instead, Yami turned and walked to the opposite side of the store, to a little known section of the shop that housed rare, antique and foreign games.

The games there were made from beautiful dark wood and ivory, some plated with gold and inlayed with glass or crystal. Many were carved with strange symbols. Yami was well aware of his Hikari's interest with old games and puzzles. It was that fascination that led to the two of them meeting in the first place.

A glint in the corner of his eye drew Yami's attention, and his gaze landed on a rich mahogany board plated with gold around the edges. The pieces were much the same, laid out in rows in front of the board.

The wonders of modern customer service played out in front of him as a shop assistant came over and asked if he needed any help. He replied that he did and the assistant opened the display case and packed away the game before leading him to the sales desk.

Yami paid the three-digit price and watched with interest as the shop assistant put all the game pieces into a drawer beneath the board and then carefully packed it in bubble wrap and placed it into an inconspicuous cardboard box.

Yami looked up to thank him but noticed the assistant was looking past him with a frown on his face. Yami felt his chest constrict, only just noticing that he had lost track of Bakura and Marik. He turned around slowly, fearing what he might see.

Bakura and Marik were in the Duel Monsters section. They had climbed onto the display cases and were tearing down the posters. An important looking person, Yami guessed he was the store manager, was trying to get them to come down.

In a flash Bakura pulled a knife and sent it flying. The store manager staggered back as the knife flew past him and smashed through the display window. In seconds the store was empty as customers and staff alike ran from the two psychopaths tearing the shop apart.

Yami took off towards the two enraged yamis, determined to not let them ruin the trust he had worked so hard to regain from Yugi.

In a single movement he grabbed Bakura by the back of his trench coat and pulled him to the ground. Bakura landed on his feet, sending a dagger flying at him. Yami dodged and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing? You're going to get us arrested!"

Bakura spat at him, "Do you really think I'd let myself be caught by mall cops?" He threw another dagger.

"Freeze!"

Yami whirled round. Police had flooded the shop and were pointing guns at all three of them. Yami swore in his head as he raised his hands.

"Hey, put that down!" one of the cops yelled, he guessed, at Marik.

Yami turned his head just enough to see Marik, with his head tilted to one side, holding up a lighter and a really big firecracker. He was smiling like a lunatic.

"We all gonna go 'boom'." Marik said plainly, and he lit the fuse.

"Everybody out!" one of the cops yelled. Yami was already moving.

He charged through the swarm of cops and was first out the door. From past experience Yami knew that Marik could have put _anything_ in that firecracker. He vaulted over the counter of the milkshake kiosk and covered his head as an explosion far larger than any firecracker ripped through the mall. His eardrums burst, leaving him temporarily deaf, and a rush of air thick with concrete dust rushed over him.

The world slowed down and everything went hazy. After an undeterminable amount of time a dark shape entered his vision from his right. It bent over him and he looked up at it confused. The shape bent down and grabbed his right arm, though it didn't hurt, and pulled him to his feet.

* * *

The next thing he knew they were running. Each footstep sent shockwaves up his body until they rang in his ears and pounded in his skull. He veins seemed stressed to the limit as thick, hot blood surged around his head. He had to keep his mouth wide open just to get enough air to keep running. His consciousness wavered again and he slipped into hazy darkness.

* * *

He didn't know where he had been before or where he was now but he knew they were different places. This time he felt cold. His hair was stuck down to his head and his clothes were wet. He could feel the rain splattering any piece of exposed skin, and the wind was frigid, yet he also got the feeling he was inside somehow. His head still pounded.

* * *

He was thrown to the ground. But it wasn't ground, it felt like metal. His head had stopped pounding, but now he was freezing cold. He felt his drenched shirt peeled off his skin, his pants followed quickly. Then he was wrapped in a thick blanket.

With shaking hands he wrapped the blanket around his bare feet so they weren't on the metal floor. He then curled into the foetal position and pulled the blanket over his head. For longer than his numb mind could keep track of he lay there, well aware of every bump and jerk. After many minutes his brain sparked and he realised he must be in a car or some other vehicle. He briefly wondered whose car he was in, and where they were going, but as his body warmed and his shaking settled he realised that he just didn't care. He shifted slightly, finding a more comfortable position, and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

* * *

I stood in the doorway of Yami's bedroom the day after the mall incident, watching as a now much warmer, much dryer and much more conscious Yami was waited on by a very concerned Yugi. Yami took a long, slow drink of the hot chocolate Yugi had brought him and smiled softly, telling Yugi how good it was and thanking him for getting it.

Once I was sure Yami was ok headed back downstairs. I picked up my hot chocolate from the kitchen counter and went to crash in the living room. I took a drink of hot chocolate and flicked on the T.V. just in time for a new report to come on.

"…Police suffered a crippling blow to their investigation overnight as invaluable security footage was sabotaged beyond recovery. The Police Chief has released a statement this morning saying that despite eyewitness testimony, even if the case does go to court the three young men will most likely not be convicted. However the sabotaging of the security footage supports that this was indeed another terrorist attack.

Luckily the building was evacuated of all civilians and police officers at the scene suffered only minor injuries.

Unfortunately Domino City Central Mall suffered extreme damage as the explosion set off the sprinkler system. Damage costs are estimated to be in the tens of thousands."

I turned off the T.V. and drained my drink. "Great," I muttered into my empty cup, "why did I decide to bring those nut jobs Christmas shopping?"


	5. Flying Reindeer

Hey there. Guess who's back. That's right, it's me. *sigh* Well, unfortunately I've had writers block all day so this chapter is going to be very short. Sorry for that. Trust me, if I could get rid of my writers block I would. But all that I've found that'll help for me is a good nights sleep, and with the deadline the way it is I don't have that kind of time. Oh well, hopefully next chapter will be better. See you then.

Warning: Mild swearing from Bakura.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Chapter five:

Flying Reindeer

* * *

I reached a little higher, trying to slip the curtain ring onto the wooden pole that was annoyingly just a few centimetres too high. The ladder wobbled slightly and I was forced to come down a little to regain my balance.

"Careful," Bakura said, chuckling, "you might fall."

"I know what I'm doing, thief." I growled at him.

"If you need help I could always hold the ladder," he offered sarcastically.

"I'll take my chances," I said.

I turned away from him pointedly and busied myself trying to hang the curtain for one of the four back-stage dressing rooms. After several minutes I was starting to realise that I just wasn't tall enough to hang the curtain by myself, but at the same time I wasn't going to admit defeat in front of Bakura. He wouldn't let me forget my shortness until _next_ Christmas. And I wasn't even short.

_Yami no baka,_ (1) I cursed mentally.

Suddenly Marik appeared next to me on the ladder and hung the curtain for me. In seconds he jumped from the ladder and walked off like nothing had happened.

_Marik's insane, _I reminded myself, _the only thing he's consistent about is being inconsistent._

Trying to ignore my confusion I climbed down from the ladder and took several steps back, looking at the now four curtains hiding the four changing rooms behind the ballroom's stage. On the far left, the one I had… Marik had… just hung, was a crimson curtain with the word Fire embroidered in gold across it. The next one to the right was a light blue colour with the word Ice embroidered across the front. The third curtain was grey with the word Lightning embroidered across it in a yellow font that looked like lightning bolts. The final curtain was black with the word Shadow written across it in a purple so dark you could barely see it unless you already knew it was there.

"I don't know why you're bothering," Bakura mocked. "This party's going to be a failure, just like everything you do."

"Shut it, thief," I said, "I'm not you."

He huffed. "Name one time I've failed."

"The time you tried to drain all our money by buying junk from infomercials?" I pointed out.

Bakura scowled at me.

"You," I said, pointing at him, "need to get into the Christmas spirit."

"Alright," he said, once again displaying his wonderful sense of sarcasm, "what the hell was that 'Santa' guy doing in the chimney in the first place?"

"He was getting into the house," I said blandly.

"Why didn't he just get in through a door or window?"

"Because…" I drawled, "then he would have had to climb off the roof."

"Well, what was he doing on the roof in the first place?"

"He landed there so that he could get in through the chimney," I said.

Bakura stared at me like I was an idiot. "He _landed_ on the roof."

"Yes, Bakura," I said, "he landed on the roof."

"What did he do, fall from the moon?" Bakura scoffed.

I sighed and sat down on a nearby stool. "Santa lives at the North Pole where he runs a factory that makes all the toys to deliver to all the good children of the world. He travels in a magic sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and lands on people's roofs, climbs down the chimneys and puts the presents under the Christmas tree. Lots of kids leave out a glass of milk and a plate of cookies for him at Christmas time and I hear that's why he's fat."

Bakura looked at me like: People actually think that? And said, "Seriously?"

"That's what parents tell their kids," I said. "I'm not saying whether or not it's true."

A shockwave knocked me off my stool and I looked over my shoulder in horror at what was once the audio mixing console for the band. It now lay in a pile of twisted wreckage as a pillar of black smoke drifted silently towards the ceiling. Marik lay next to it, laughing like a maniac as he chucked sharp pieces of metal wreckage across the room where they stuck in the wall, smouldering.

I got up slowly and walked over to Marik. I stopped over him, held my hand out in front of me and snapped my fingers. A plot hole opened beneath Marik and he fell into it, landing on a tiny rock sticking out of the ocean miles away from the coast. I decided to pick him up after Bakura had cleaned up the wreckage and I had found some new equipment for the show.

I allowed myself a moment to pity Marik. He was going to be out there for quite a while.

* * *

(1) _Yami no Baka _- Stupid Yami (cause Bakura is a yami.)


	6. Candy Crisis

Hey, peoples. Good to see you again. I'm happy to see you're still reading. Once again I present to you a chapter! This time it's chapter 6. Yay, we're half way there! I would like to thank all of my wonderful readers for sticking with me. And I want to send a special shout out to my beta, who doesn't mind working into the early hours of the morning, for helping me make this story even better than it already was. Lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Chapter six:

Candy Crisis

* * *

I slid the box onto the stage, letting out a sigh as the weight left my tired arms. This was the third, and last, of the one-metre-square boxes of decorations that we needed to set up for the party. I stretched a little before opening the box to check the contents. The inside of the box was separated into four separate compartments, each filled with a different… food.

The first section was filled with chocolate logs, the second with candy canes, the third with chocolate fudge, and the fourth with gingerbread men. I muttered something not very nice under my breath at the sight. They had given me the wrong box. What was I supposed to do with five kilos worth of candy?

"Yami!" I called.

The person in question looked up from the other side of the room, where he had been busy stringing the red, gold, and green streamers from one of the other boxes.

"Come here for a sec?" I asked.

He looked mildly confused as he climbed down the ladder and crossed the room, but didn't hesitate to come over and ask, "Is there something that you need?"

"Yeah," I said, "can you watch this box for me for a minute? I gotta go do something."

Yami looked past me and into the box, and his face paled. He looked like I'd just said, 'Here, watch this box of plutonium'.

"I need you," I told him, "to keep this away from Bakura, no matter what. Got it?"

His face was pained when he answered. "Are you sure you want to leave this here?"

"I'm sure," I responded, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

"I haven't see Marik all day," Yami pointed out.

"Don't worry, I know where he is." I assured him, chuckling at the thought of Marik still stuck on his little rock in the middle of the ocean.

Yami sighed. "Fine," he said, "I'll do my best but I make no promises."

"Don't worry," I told him, "this time I'll take less than three minutes."

I walked past him and headed for the door. I had a delivery guy I needed to rant at.

* * *

I stared after the retreating back end of the white delivery van as it disappeared down the road. I couldn't help the smug smile on my face as I thought of the confused and mildly terrified look on the delivery guy's face as I ranted at him longer and louder than, probably, anyone had before.

Just as I was about to head back inside I was almost knocked off my feet by 'Jingle Bell Rock' playing almost impossibly loud from the ballroom's new speaker system. In an instant I knew that Bakura had somehow gotten to the candy.

I took off at a sprint towards the ballroom, hoping I would make it in time to stop anything from catching on fire. More than that I worried about Yami. Who knew what a sugar-crazy Bakura was capable of?

When I entered the ballroom I found something even more disturbing than anything I could have imagined before. Bakura stood in front of the twenty-foot tall Christmas tree dancing and singing along to 'Jingle Bell Rock', spinning around arm-in-arm with none other than Yami.

I walked up to the two slowly, unsure of how fast they would turn aggressive in the face of someone who wasn't sugar-crazy. I actually managed to get within a few feet of them. Neither of them seemed to even notice me. And that was when I saw Yami's face. Chocolate was smeared all around his mouth and there was chocolate sauce dripping down the front of his shirt.

Now, Yami used to be the Pharaoh of Egypt, he was very refined and never made a mess. In that instant, I knew what had happened. Bakura had forced Yami into eating the chocolate and gotten him sugar high.

I stood by and watched them for several moments, trying to figure out what I should do. I waited so long that the next song came on – the song from Snoopy's Christmas. I didn't even have that song.

Finally, I decided that they were harmless enough so I snuck back to the entryway and climbed up into the rafters. From there I had a perfect view of whatever the yamis got up to. I pulled out my video camera and hit record.

After several minutes of dancing Bakura left Yami and skipped, actually _skipped,_ to the Christmas tree. Once there he started pulling down the Christmas decorations and dropping them onto the floor. After only a few seconds Yami slipped on one of the decorations and looked down at it, confused. He looked it over in his fingers for a moment before going and placing it back on the tree, right where it had been before. He went to walk off but found another decoration out of place, so he went and put that one back, and the next one, and the one after that.

As he started moving around the tree Bakura appeared from the other side, pulling down the decorations and dropping them onto the floor, one after the other after the one before it. It continued like this for several songs before Bakura gave up, cursing the universe and everything in it. Yami had better luck, finally managing to put all of the decorations away. However, they both fell to the floor because they had been going around in circles so long it had made them both dizzy.

Bakura fell first, collapsing on the marble floor. Only a few seconds later Yami fell on top of him. To my complete amazement Bakura, instead of trying to kill Yami, pulled him closer and curled up on his chest. Yami wrapped his arms around Bakura's middle and held him until they both fell asleep to the still way to loud music.

I climbed down from the rafters and walked over to get a close-up of the two snuggling together before turning of the camera. After it was off I walked over to the music system and turned that off, too. As I looked over at the now empty box of candy I asked myself, _W__hy do holidays have to come with candy?_


	7. A White Christmas

Hey, peoples. I'm so sorry about missing my up-load date, my internet's been dead for days. So, since I'm not going to be able to finish before Christmas like I planned, I've decided that I'm going to hold off on up-loading chapters eight through twelve until after Christmas. I will up-load them, but from the 26th to the 30th. To try and make up for it this chapter is extra long. Like, longer than chapter 4. I'll see you all after Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I make no profit from this story.

* * *

The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Chapter seven:

A White Christmas

* * *

"Hey, guys," I said as the three yamis, and their three hikaris for once, filed into the abandoned warehouse. I waved them over to a corner hidden behind some crates and old tarps.

"Why the bloody hell did you call us out in the middle of a damn snow storm?" Bakura scowled as soon as he was close enough.

"Because," I said for the hundredth time since the day before, "the party is today and the only way we can get there is through the portal hidden in here."

"And why the f*ck are we here at 6 o'clock in the bloody morning?" Bakura yelled irritably He obviously hadn't had his morning coffee.

"Because," I said, again, "we are going into a different time zone and they're several hours ahead of us. So, to be on time we have to leave early."

Ryou placed a hand on Bakura's arm, receiving a glare that he promptly ignored, and brought out a thermos. Bakura took it and sniffed the contents before walking off to sit on a crate not far away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him pour a cup of, what I guessed was, coffee.

"Ok everyone," I started, ignoring Bakura, "let's start heading to the portal, I need everyone inside the circle before I can start the spell."

The group nodded and headed towards the hidden 'room' where the portal was. Bakura filed in last and, as he walked through the door, I nodded to the others in the circle, "Ok, that's everyone."

Bakura growled as he stalked over to stand in the circle next to Ryou.

"Alright," I said, "before we go I just want to remind everyone that where we're going it's going to be, like, 30 degrees so I hope everyone dressed accordingly."

Everyone nodded.

"Ok, here we go."

I walked around the outside of the circle and filled in three runes that hadn't been written, and fixed the ones that, undoubtedly, Bakura had rubbed out. Finally I took my place inside the circle and filled in the last symbol. I threw the chalk out of the circle and yelled to the sky, "Tamaki-makau-rau, Aotearoa!" (1) There was a blinding flash of light, and we were gone.

* * *

When the light faded we were standing on a platform at one end of a rectangular stone room. There were no windows, and the only light came from four fluorescent tubes hanging from the ceiling. The room was empty, apart from the raised platform, a stone-carved version of the teleportation circle, two curtained off areas in one corner and a set of stairs at the other end of the room.

It was cool in the dark room, even cold, but it was definitely warmer than the un-insulated warehouse without windows that we had been in before.

The thick winter gear and thermals that I had been wearing were starting to get uncomfortably warm so I headed off towards one of the curtained areas to change. The others waited outside without asking me what I was doing. I guessed they were suffering portal-lag, which is sort of like seasickness, except that it goes away after a couple of minutes.

When I emerged from the changing 'room' I was wearing a pair of navy blue shorts, a lite blue T-shirt and pair of sandals. I also had a hat and had put on sunscreen.

"What are you guys waiting for?" I asked, "Go get changed already. It's only this cold in here because we have air-conditioning."

"What do you mean; get changed?" Bakura growled.

Yugi spoke up to try and avoid further conflict. "What Bakura means is, you said it was going to be 30 degrees, so we dressed for cold weather."

"30 degrees Fahrenheit," Ryou added, "is the temperature that water freezes."

I turned whiter than Ryou was normally. "Wait," I said, "you thought I meant _Fahrenheit_? No, I meant 30 degrees _Celsius_, that's like 86 degrees Fahrenheit. It's summer here."

Bakura scoffed at me. "Right, like you really have Christmas in summer?"

"Oh, ri~ght," I said, more than a little ticked off, "you're from a time before people could travel far enough to know that different places have different seasons at the same time."

Ryou and Yugi ran for the changing rooms while Malik ran away from Marik, who was trying to get his clothes off.

Yami looked pained. Like he couldn't choose between his common sense and his hikari.

Ryou and Yugi emerged from the changing rooms, still looking very uncomfortable, and had removed most of their heavy winter gear and, I guessed, their thermals.

"Come along, none believers," I beckoned to the yamis, "I shall show you the truth."

I headed up the stairs, followed by the others, and walked out into the hallway of a large summer batch. We turned left and ended up in the living room, with two glass walls showing the large deck that ringed the house and the beach beyond.

"Hey, you're here early," called a new voice from the kitchen to our right.

I turned and saw… my mum. You could say that I don't have a normal relationship with my mum. I don't hate her or spend every moment we're together outside of the house pretending that I don't know her. That's right, we actually get along. I ran over to her and gave her a hug.

"Mum!" I yelled as I barrelled into her.

My mum was a tall woman, not too much but just a little above average; she was reasonably fit and had long wavy brown hair like mine. Except mine was longer, like waist length. She had been preparing bowls of fruit and little sandwiches.

I ducked around her and grabbed a chicken sandwich, taking a bite before anyone could stop me.

"And these must be your…friends." My mum said, feeling nervous (like any sane human being) around the two psychotic yamis.

"Yeah," I said, "there was a slip up when we were getting ready, they thought it was going to be 30 degrees Fahrenheit, not Celsius. Can we raid the cousins' rooms?"

Mum gave me a pointed look, but at that moment one of my teenage cousins came in from outside.

"Hey, Alex," I called.

"…Um, hey… yeah?" he answered, clearly freaked out by the freaks I had brought.

"These guys were stupid and brought the wrong clothes, can we raid your closet? It'll just be for the day."

I caught the glint of silver as Bakura flashed him a dagger that my mum couldn't see and Alex nodded quickly.

"Yeah, sure," he said, "I'll um… see you outside then." And he left as fast as could without running for his life.

Mum stared after him, confused, and I ran out of the room while she was distracted. As I passed them I beckoned the others to follow me and we took off to the other end of the hallway.

After running a really long way we made it into the entranceway. It was a huge rectangular room (across so if the hallway was the vertical part of the T then the entryway was the horizontal bit) with two layers of balcony's ringing it and two giant staircases, one on either side of the hallway entrance. The ceiling was a huge glass skylight letting the merciless sun beat down upon anyone caught in its glare without the right protection (ea. Sunscreen, hats, magical runes etc.).

I led the group up the right hand staircase up to the first floor and stopped on the balcony.

"Ok," I told them, "time for a brief tour of the house." There were many groans of annoyance, except from the yamis, who cursed instead.

"On the ground floor," I started, "we have, the kitchen, the food storage room, the dinning room, the outdoor dinning area, the living room, the other living room, and the games room. On the first floor, the one we are on now, we have, the kids rooms, the teens rooms, the other games room, and the library. And up stairs, on the second floor, we have the adults' rooms and the gym, which is open to all people over the age of 14. And on all floors we have an assortment of bathrooms.

"Now, this room on your right is Alex's room, help yourselves to the closet."

There was a literal stampede to get into some cooler clothes. And while they got changed I waited outside playing a game on my iPod, which had been in my pocket the whole time.

After a long time, and much yelling, cursing, banging and some other noises I didn't want to go into, the yamis emerged wearing roughly the same thing, shorts and a T-shirt. Malik came out next, having found some clothes that were obviously to small for Alex, and lastly Ryou and Yugi who were dressed the same as before and looked mortified.

I sighed and pointed to the other end of the balcony. "The younger boys rooms are down that end," I said, "go nuts."

They didn't. The two embarrassed hikaris walked away sulking, and only Yami looked sorry for them.

While they were gone I got the others to put on sunscreen, Yami but asking him, Bakura by threatening him (remember last chapter ;) ) and Marik by bribing him. Malik hated me for a while afterwards.

After the two hikaris got back they, too, put on sunscreen and we all headed to the back yard, aka the beach. The rest of the day went remarkably well. We managed to call up one of the family members who was running late and got them to pick up some clothes and swimming togs for the yamis and hikaris. The hikaris got to play in the ocean, I owned Bakura in one-on-one soccer on the grass. I knew those years in the school soccer club would come in handy one day. We even go to see a stingray. And the best part of the day, for me, happened during lunch. We had all sat down around the gigantic table on the deck. The food had been served and it was a little into the afternoon so now the table was in the shadow of the huge pohutukawa (2) tree with its beautiful red flowers. Some of my friends had even turned up, 'cause their Christmas party's weren't till later' they said. I think they just came to raid the food storage room.

I called one section of the table for my friends, the hikaris, Yami and me. Cousins took up one whole side of the table and the aunts and uncles took up most of the other. This left Bakura and Marik trapped between my two crazy aunts Verna and her twin sister Myrna.

Verna and Marik got into a fight over some napkins, and Bakura found Myrna trying to pickpocket one of his knives. Before it could turn into a bloodbath the hikaris quickly stepped in and dragged the yamis off and made them eat lunch while sitting on the stairs.

After lunch Marik and Malik went to admire my friends' motorbikes. Bakura had a staring contest with aunt Myrna, the winner got to keep his knife. And I gave Alex a packet of chocolate cookies for raiding his closet earlier. Yugi, Yami, my mum and I played a game of agitation and my brain hurt for hours afterwards.

When it started to get dark we all filed into separate bathrooms and washed off the sunscreen, before changing back into our winter clothes. We headed off down to the basement where most of my family were gathered. Some to watch us leave, others waiting to leave themselves.

I hugged my mum and said, "Thanks for letting me friends come. This was one heck of a white Christmas."

"How was this a white Christmas?" Yugi asked.

"Well," I said, "the sand on the beach was white."

Yugi looked at me like I was a little nuts, but didn't say anything.

Our group positioned ourselves quickly and I took my place at the front. I waved to the others and caught Bakura smirking at my friend Sapphire. Sapphire smirked back and held up a set of keys. Bakura's eyes widened in shock and he quickly checked his pockets. When he found nothing he glared at Sapphire and I winked at her. Before he could charge out of the cercle I threw my arms up and yelled, "Domino, Nihon!" (3) There was a flash of white light and we were gone.

* * *

(1) Tamaki-Makau-Rau, Aotearoa - Auckland, New Zealand in Māori, the native language of New Zealand.

(2) Pohutukawa - A large tree that blossoms with crismson coloured flowers between December and February. This is spring in New Zealand.

(3) Domino, Nihon - Domino, Japan, in Japanese.


End file.
